Strategic Asset Seeking and Innovation Performance: The Role of Innovation Capabilities and Host Country Institutions

Abstract

Peering through the lenses of the strategic intent perspective and strategic fit paradigm, in this study, we seek to examine the contingent conditions under which emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) with strategic asset seeking (SAS) intent can achieve improved innovation performance. We developed a contingency model of how the relationship between SAS intent and innovation performance is contingent on the moderating effects of firms’ innovation capability and institutional quality in the host country, as well as on the synergistic interaction of independent moderating effects from these two factors. We combined survey data from 320 Chinese MNEs with archival data to test our hypotheses. Our results show that SAS intent can lead to positive innovation performance when (a) the investing firm has developed high levels of innovation capability, and (b) synergistic interactions exist between institutional quality and firms’ innovation capability regarding their moderating effect on the SAS intent-innovation performance link.

Current Research Trends on Interrelationships of Eco-Innovation and Internationalisation: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…The importance of internationalisation and eco-innovations in organisational performance has triggered scientific debates. Apparently, innovation capabilities developed by firms impact strategic behaviour, including their stance towards internationalisation (Mi et al 2020). Many authors, with evidence from different countries and product groups, emphasise the importance of innovation in order to increase export performance and competitiveness (Priede and Pereira 2015).…”

A Gap in Brain Gain for Emerging Countries: Evidence of International Immigration on Non-Resident Patents

“…Furthermore, communication barriers could reduce mutual trust, and the exclusions of minority groups could lead to social unrest and conflicts (Alesina and Ferrara 2005). In absence of synergy with the host institution, productivity and inventive capability could be at risk (Mi et al 2020).…”

“…Some would argue that only few origin countries win from the global migration while the majority are losing exacerbating the imbalance (Beine et al 2008). More recent studies argue that migration is not a zero-sum game, with proper institutions it can be a win-win situation for both home and host countries (Mi et al 2020;Naghavi and Strozzi 2015;Vissak and Zhang 2014). However, the extant literature largely focused on developed countries in the context of the US (Bernstein et al 2019;Kerr and Lincoln 2010;Moser et al 2014), Canada (Beach et al 2007;Blit et al 2020), Australia (Clarke et al 2019), UK (Nathan 2015), and OECD countries (Liu et al 2010;Ortega and Peri 2009).…”